The subject invention is directed to new and novel regio-regular, functionalized hydrocarbon polymers (i.e., polymers bearing oxygen and/or nitrogen atom in pendent functional groups) and methods of forming the same. Specifically, the present invention is directed to regio-regular polymers having substantially all vicinal (i.e., head-to-head) configuration of functional groups pendent from the polymer backbone chain. The polymers are formed by ring-opening metathesis polymerization of a C7-C12 cycloalkene having a vicinal pair of functional groups pendent from ring carbon atoms. The resultant polymer may then be hydrogenated to provide a substantially straight chain alkylene polymer having head-to-head pendent functional groups periodically distributed along the polymer chain. These polymers exhibit enhanced gas barrier and/or tensile properties and have other properties which make them useful in forming films and other articles.
High pressure, free radical polymerization has been an important industrial technique for providing a wide variety of polymer products. The technique requires an initiator, such as a peroxide, to initiate the chain growth. A variety of homopolymers and copolymers have been formed by this technique. However, the monomeric units forming the copolymers are normally randomly distributed along the polymer chain backbone and the polymer has a high degree of short and long chain branching due to side reactions. Even when forming functional group containing homopolymers, there is a high degree of head-to-tail arrangement of the functional groups with respect to the polymer chain. Head-to-tail orientation of consecutive mers of a vinyl polymer can be simply represented as: xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CHXxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CHXxe2x80x94, while head-to-head orientation is represented as: xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CHXxe2x80x94CHXxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94, where X represents functional groups. Normally, only small amounts of head-to-head arrangement of functional group containing monomeric units may be found in polymers formed by free radical polymerization.
More recently, polymerizations have been conducted with Ziegler-Natta or metallocene catalyst. However, polymerization by this technique is generally limited to non-functionalized monomers, such as olefins suitable for forming polyethylene, polypropylene and the like.
Ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) has been studied during the past two decades using early transition metal complexes. These studies were conducted on strained cyclic olefins to provide polymers of controlled molecular weight and structure. For example, cyclobutenes have been the subject of ROMP to provide poly(butadiene) or polybutenamer. It has been well documented that this polymerization is driven by the high strain energy of the cyclobutene ring (29.4 kcal/mol). In Makromol. Chem. 1962, 56, 224, Dall""Asta et al first reported the ROMP of cyclobutene using TiCl4/Et3Aa to provide a polybutadiene having high cis configuration. Other two component ROMP catalyst systems have been used to polymerize cyclobutene and its derivatives. In addition, one component catalysts, such as Ph(MeO)Cxe2x95x90W(CO)5, PhCxe2x95x90WCO5 and RuCl3 were successfully used in similar polymerizations.
However, in none of the above cases was a living polymerization observed. Polymerization reactions are considered living when the reaction is capable of proceeding substantially in the absence of termination steps and chain transfer reactions. When the rate of polymer chain initiation occurs faster than chain propagation the living system affords polymers of controllable molecular weight and narrow polydispersity. Living polymerization systems are also capable of synthesizing block copolymers (see Noshay et al, Block Copolymers, Academic Press, N.Y. 1977).
The area of functionalized polyolefins has received great attention recently. The fine tuning of the type and amount of functional groups, as well as the location of the functional groups on the polymer backbone to optimize the properties which can be achieved by a particular polymer has been of great interest. Functionalized alkylene polymers have conventionally been prepared by free-radical or anionic polymerization of vinyl monomers. However, such S polymerization techniques of functionalized vinylically unsaturated monomers have provided polymers with a preponderance of head-to-tail configuration of the monomeric units, with a high degree of branching and, where copolymerization is conducted, the monomeric units are generally randomly distributed along the polymer backbone chain. Due to the electrophilic nature of transition metal catalysts, such as metallocene or conventional Ziegler-Natta catalysts, towards a large variety of functional groups, the synthesis of polyolefins with polar functional groups has met with only limited success.
Recently, the ROMP of certain substituted strained cyclic and bicyclic olefins has been accomplished. 3-Methylcyclobutene and 3,3-dimethylcyclobutene as well as norbornene have been ring opened and polymerized. The ROMP of cyclobutenes which are substituted with acid or alcohol functional groups has only been accomplished indirectly. For example, highly strained 3,4-disubstituted cyclobutenes bearing benzyl-protected methylene ether or ester pendent groups have been subjected to ROMP followed by post-polymerization removal of the protection group to provide a polyallyl alcohol homopolymer product.
With the development of other metathesis initiators, such as those described by Nguyen et al in JACS 1992, 114, 3974 and JACS 1993, 115, 9858; by Schwab et al in JACS 1996, 118, 100; Schrock et al, in JACS 1990, 112, 3875; Fox et al in Inorg. Chem. 1992, 31, 2287; and by Grubbs et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,940, one has achieved metathesis polymerization of certain cyclic olefin compounds which contain functional groups. However, such polymerizations were not living polymerizations and, therefore non-linear, high dispersity polymer products were achieved. Further, the monomers were highly strained compounds, such as norbornene derivatives which provide a cyclic moiety within the polymer chain or, alternately, were mono functional acyclic olefins which provided polymers having the functional groups randomly located along the polymer chain.
It has been highly desired to provide a linear polyolefin polymer having pendent functional groups uniformly distributed in a controlled manner along the polymer backbone. Such polymers are believed capable of providing polymer films and articles having uniform structure and highly desired properties.
It has now been unexpectedly found that one can produce functionalized polymers which are substantially linear, have low polydispersity and whose functionality is regio-regular with respect to the backbone polymer chain. The present polymers have functional groups which are head-to-head in orientation to each other (are pendent from adjacent carbon atoms of the polymer backbone) and are positioned in a substantially uniform sequence with respect to the polymer backbone carbon atoms. Such new and novel functionalized, regio-regular polymers are suitable for providing improved packaging film products.
The subject polymers are capable of being formed by ring-opening metathasis polymerization of certain cyclic monoolefinic compounds having vicinal functional groups directly pendent from carbon atoms of the ring, as fully described herein below.
The cyclic olefin can be selected from a C7-C12 cyclohydrocarbon having one ethylenic unsaturation group as part of the ring structure. The cyclohydrocarbon may, for example, be selected from cycloheptene, cyclooctene, cyclononene, cyclodecene, cyclohendecene, cyclododecene and the like. The preferred cyclohydrocarbons are those having an even number of carbon atoms making up the ring. The term C7-C12 refers to the number of carbon atoms forming the ring structure of the cyclic olefin.
The unsaturated cyclohydrocarbon used in forming the present polymer must have vicinal functional groups pendent from carbon atoms of the ring. At least one carbon which is adjacent to the ethylenic group of the ring must be free of functional groups. That is, when numbering the ethylenic carbons 1 and 2, the next carbon and, preferably, the carbon having the highest number defining the ring should not contain pendent groups except for hydrogen atoms. The cyclohydrocarbon may, in addition to the vicinal functional groups, contain hydrocarbon or functional groups pendent from other carbon atoms except at least one carbon atom of the ring which is adjacent to the ethylenic group, as described above.
In general, the cyclic olefin found useful in providing the regio-regular polymer is a cycloalkene which can be represented as: 
wherein at least one carbon atom which is alpha with respect to the ethylenic group has only hydrogen atoms pendent therefrom, X and Y together represent functional groups which are pendent from vicinal carbon atoms of the cycloalkene and wherein X and Y each, independently are selected from hydroxyl, carboxylic acid, carboxylic acid esters of a C1-C5 alkyl, acetate, amide, nitrile or carbonyl group. It is preferred that X and Y represent the same functional group. The symbol xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d is a value of 0 to 6 and xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d has a value of 0 to 6 provided the sum of a+b is a value between 2 and 7. Each of the ring carbon atoms of xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d can be unsubstituted (contain only hydrogen atoms) or may be substituted with a C1-C5 (preferably a C1-C2) alkyl group or with a functional group, as described above.
The subject invention shall be discussed herein below in terms of hydroxylated polymers (where X and Y each represent an xe2x80x94OH group). These polymers can be viewed as copolymers of vinyl alcohol and an alkylene, such as ethylene, linear propylene and the like. For example, it has been found that ROMP of 5,6dihydroxycyclooctene provides a polymer which can be viewed as a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol. Ethylene/vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymers are commonly available. However, these polymers are presently formed by free radical copolymerization of ethylene and vinyl acetate followed by hydrolysis of the acetate groups to hydroxyl groups. The conventional EVOH copolymer contains each monomeric unit randomly distributed along the polymer chain, the hydroxyl groups (disregarding residual acetate groups) are generally configured head-to-tail when part of adjacent monomeric units and the polymer contains considerable branching. In contrast, a hydroxy-containing polymer provided by the present invention (a=2; b=1; X and Y=OH) can be viewed as analagous to an ethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymer with the unique feature of having ethylene and vinyl alcohol pairs of monomeric units in a sequential arrangement of ethylene-vinyl alcohol/vinyl alcohol-ethylene along the polymer chain. Further, the adjacent vinyl alcohol units are only in a head-to-head configuration.
Other functionalized polymers can be achieved in the manner fully described herein below. One can view the present invention as utilizing, as the starting compound, a vicinal disubstituted C7-C12 cycloalkene (wherein C7-C12 refers to the number of ring carbon atoms) represented by the formula 
wherein X and Y independently represent functional groups and preferably represent the same functional group, xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d represents a numerical value of 0 to 6 and xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d represents a numerical value of 0 to 6, provided the sum of a+b is from 2 to 7. Each of the ring carbon atoms of xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d and/or of xe2x80x9cbxe2x80x9d may be unsubstituted or further substituted, as described above. X and Y groups may be sterically positioned on the same side or opposite sides of the plane bisecting the ring carbon atoms except in the case of X and/or Y being a carbonyl group, in which case the group would be within the plane of the ring. In other words, X and Y may be either in a cis or trans configuration with respect to each other.
The formation of difunctional cycloalkenes (I) found useful herein can be achieved by known methods. For example, trans-5-cyclooctene-1,2diol can be prepared by reacting the monoepoxide of 1,5-cyclooctadiene with perchloric acid in an aqueous solution at elevated temperatures as taught in French Patent 1,294,313 which teaching is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Other methods of preparing the vicinal dihydroxy functionalized cycloalkene include reacting the cycloalkadiene monoepoxide with acetic acid and potassium acetate to initially form the hydroxy/acetate compound followed by saponification; oxidation of cycloalkadiene with peroxide and formic acid followed by basic hydrolysis [Yates et al., Canadian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 50, 1548 (1972)]; reacting a cycloalkadiene monoepoxide with an organic acid, such as formic or acetic acid to form the hydroxy/acetate compound followed by saponification [McIntosh, Canadian Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 50, 2152 (1972)]; or reacting a cycloalkadiene with osmium tetroxide in ether/pyridine solution at low temperatures followed by reflux with sodium sulfite in water/alcohol [Leitich, Tetrahedron Letters, No. 38, 3589 (1978)].
A vicinal dione cycloalkene can be formed from the vicinal diol according to the procedure described by Yates et al., Canadian J. of Chem., Vol. 50, 1548 (1972).
The vicinal hydroxy/ketone cycloalkene and the vicinal ketone/acetate cycloalkene are formed by oxidizing the hydroxy/acetate with chromic acid in acetone at low temperatures (e.g., 0-10xc2x0 C.) to form the ketone/acetate. The ketone/acetate cycloalkene can be recovered by distillation. The ketone/acetate can be converted to the vicinal hydroxy/ketone cycloalkene by hydrolysis with sodium hydroxide in methanol at slightly elevated temperatures (e.g., 40xc2x0 C.).
The monoepoxy cycloalkene, which is the precursor of several of the synthetic routes described above can be obtained by catalytic oxidation of a cycloalkadiene using a peroxide and sodium tungstate as the catalyst as described by Venturello, in J. Org. Chem., 48, 3831 (1983) and J. Org. Chem., 53, 1553 (1988). Other methods of forming the epoxy cycloalkadiene are disclosed by Grubbs, Macromolecules, 28, 6311 (1995); Camps, J. Org. Chem. 47, 5402 (1982); Imuta, J. Org. Chem. 44, 1351 (1979); Murray, Org. Syn., 74, 91 (1996); and Payne, Tetrahedron, 18, 763 (1962).
The teachings of each of the above cited references is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The vicinal functionalized disubstituted cycloalkene is subjected to ring opening metathesis polymerization using a well-defined ROMP catalyst. Such catalysts found useful herein are disclosed by Shrock et al in JACS 1990, 112, 3875; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,681,956; 5,312,940; and 5,342,909. The preferred catalysts are those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,940. The teachings of each of the above references is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
One class of ROMP catalyst found useful in providing the present polymers can be represented by the general formula:
M(NR1)(OR2)2(CHR3)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83II(a)
wherein:
M is molybdenum or tungsten;
R1 and R2 of Formula II(a) are independently selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl or halogen-substituted derivatives or silicon-containing analogs thereof. Examples of aryl groups are phenyl, 2,6diisopropylphenyl and 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl. Examples of aralkyl groups are benzyl and triphenylmethyl. Examples of R1 in Formula IIa are 2,6diisopropylphenyl, 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl, 2,6-di-t-butylphenyl, pentafluorophenyl, t-butyl, trimethylsilyl, triphenylmethyl, triphenylsilyl, tri-t-butylsilyl, and perfluoro-2-methyl-2-pentyl and the like. Examples of R2 in Formula IIa are t-butyl, trifluoro-t-butyl [(CF3)(CH3)2C], perfluoro-t-butyl, perfluoro-2-methyl-2-pentyl, 2,6diisopropylphenyl, pentafluorophenyl, trimethylsilyl, triphenylsilyl, tri-t-butylsilyl, and hexafluoro-t-butyl [(CF3)2(CH3)C] and the like. R3 of Formula II(a) is selected from an alkyl, aryl, aralkyl or any substituent that results from the initial reaction between the M=CHR3 complex and the olefin(s) that is(are) being metathesized, alkyl has 1-20 carbons, aryl has 6-20 carbons and aralkyl has 7-20 carbons; R3 is preferably t-butyl or phenyl, but since the M-CHR3 moiety of the compound of Formula IIa is intimately involved in the catalytic reaction, it is recognized that the CHR3 ligand is replaced by any other alkylidene fragment from the olefins that are being metathesized.
The catalyst IIa should not be used with monomer I which has a proton on the functional group, that is, for example hydroxyl, carboxylic acid and the like. It may be used where ester, acetate, carbonyl and the like groups are present.
The preferred ROMP catalysts are those represented by the general formula: 
wherein:
M is selected from Mo, W, Os or Ru; and preferably Ru or Os; and most preferably Ru;
R and R1 are independently selected from hydrogen; C2-C20 alkenyl, C2-C20 alkynyl, C1-C20 alkyl, aryl, C1-C20 carboxylate, C1-C20 alkoxy, C2-C20 alkenyloxy, C2-C20 alkynyloxy, aryloxy, C2-C20 alkoxycarbonyl, C1-C20 alkylthio, C1-C20 alkylsulfonyl or C1-C20 alkylsulfinyl; each optionally substituted with C1-C5 alkyl, halogen, C1-C5 alkoxy or with phenyl group optionally substituted with halogen, C1-C5 alkyl or C1-C5 alkoxy; preferably R and R1 are independently selected from hydrogen; vinyl, C1-C10 alkyl, aryl, C1-C10 carboxylate, C2-C10 alkoxycarbonyl, C1-C10 alkoxy or aryloxy; each optionally substituted with C1-C5 alkyl, halogen, C,-C5 alkoxy or with a phenyl optionally substituted with halogen, C1-C5 alkyl or C1-C5 alkoxyl;
X and X1 are independently selected from any anionic ligand; preferably X and X1 are independently selected from halogen, hydrogen; C1-C20 alkyl, aryl, C1-C20 alkoxide, aryloxide, C3-C20 alkyldiketonate, aryldiketonate, C1-C20 carboxylate, aryl or C1-C20 alkylsulfonyl or C1-C20 alkylsulfinyl; each optionally substituted with C1-C5 alkyl, halogen, C1-C5 alkoxy or with a phenyl group optionally substituted with halogen, C1-C5 alkyl or C1-C5 alkoxyl;
L and L1 are independently selected from any neutral electron donor, preferably L and L1 are independently selected from phosphine, sulfonated phosphine, phosphite, phosphinite, phosphonite, arsine, stilbene, ether, amine, amide, sulfoxide, carbonyl, nitrosyl, pyridine or thioether; and
wherein any 2, or 3 of X, X1, L, L1 may be optionally bonded together to form a chelating multidentate ligand.
The ROMP of the vicinal difunctional C7-C12 cycloalkene (I) may be carried out neat or by providing a solution of (I) in a hydrocarbon solvent such as, for example, aromatic hydrocarbons, such as, toluene, tetrahydrofuran, dialkyl ethers, cyclic ethers and the like and their halogenated derivatives, such as, halogenated aromatics as well as halogenated alkanes and the like. The preferred solvents are chlorinated alkanes, such as dichloromethane and the like, chlorinated aromatics, such as monochlorobenzene and the like. The molar ratio of I, to catalyst II should be from about 200 to 5,000, preferably from about 400 to 3000. The ROMP reaction may be carried out at temperatures of from about 10xc2x0 C. to 75xc2x0 C. and preferably from about 20xc2x0 C. to 50xc2x0 C. The most preferred temperature will depend on the particular starting material, the ROMP catalyst, and the solvent used and can be determined by minor experimentation and is usually in the range of from 35 to 50xc2x0 C. The time dedicated to carrying out the ROMP reaction may range from only a few minutes to several hours, such as up to about 48 hours. The reaction time is normally from 2 to 30 hours, with 10 to 20 hours being preferred. The molecular weight of the formed polymer product can be regulated by (a) altering the monomer I to catalyst II ratio, and/or by (b) introducing a suitable acyclic olefin in small amounts to act as a chain transfer agent. Such agents should be soluble in the polymerization reaction media or monomer used and may be, for example, cis 3-buten-1-ol, cis 3-hexen-1-ol and the like. When used, the chain transfer agent (CTA) should be present in molar ratio of monomer I to CTA of from about 50 to 2000 and preferably from about 200 to 1000.
ROMP of the vicinal difunctional cycloalkene (I) above provides a polymer having repeating units of the general formula: 
wherein X, Y a and b are as defined above and each R independently represents hydrogen or a C1-C5 alkyl or an X group. It should be noted that the ROMP process of the cycloalkene (I) provides a polymer III having vicinal functional groups X and Y, the polymer chain is substantially linear, and the chain further contains an ethylenic unsaturation spaced (a) carbon atoms from the X functional group. In the polymer, groups X and Y may have the same or opposite stereo-configuration to that of the cyclic monomer used. Similarly, the polymer product III has double bonds which normally provide a mixture of both cis and trans geometric isomers (i.e., the alkenyl hydrogen atom may be cis or trans with respect to its nearest alkenyl hydrogen atom neighbor). Further, the above structure III is the repeating unit of the formed polymer and, thus, does not have any substantial degree of randomness of the X and Y groups and, as appropriate, the alkylene units along the polymer chain.
The polymer product m can be recovered by introducing a non-solvent into the solution to cause the polymer to precipitate out of solutions. Such non-solvents include for example, alkanes (e.g., pentane, hexane, heptane, etc.); ketones (e.g., acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, etc.) and the like. The particular non-solvent to be used can be readily determined by the artisan. The polymer product III can be readily recovered by introducing the polymerization reaction mixture into an excess of a non-solvent liquid.
The preferred conditions and catalyst for performing a ROMP of trans-5-cyclooctene-1,2-diol are:
The separated polymer III can be subjected to conventional catalytic hydrogenation or, optionally, chemical hydrogenation (e.g., using chemical hydrogenation agents, such as para-toluene sulfonyl hydrazide and the like) to provide a substantially completely saturated polymer IV. The structure of polymer IV repeating unit can be represented by the formula: 
Alternately, partial hydrogenation can be accomplished by controlling the hydrogenation reaction by known methods. Such methods may include controlling the molar ratio of olefinic groups of the polymer to chemical hydrogenation agent, the time of hydrogenation, etc. Where catalytic hydrogenation is employed, the degree of saturation can be controlled by the time and/or hydrogen pressure used. Thus, the resultant polymer IV may have residual ethylenic unsaturation to provide sites for grafting, insertion of other functional groups or for other desired reasons.
The hydrogenation of the polymer can be carried out using conventional hydrogenation, such as Wilkinson""s catalyst and the use of hydrogen or the use of other conventional hydrogenation catalysts, such as Raney nickel, palladium on carbon, platinum on carbonate, ruthenium alkylidene complex or the like. The polymer is normally dissolved in a solvent or a mixture of solvents such as those described above for the ROMP polymerization and subjected to a hydrogen pressure of at least about 300 psi, preferably from about 600 to 5000 psi. The hydrogenation is normally complete in less than 8 hours although shorter or longer times may be utilized. Normally the hydrogenation is carried out for a period of from 2 to 8 hours with from 3 to 7 hours being preferred.
When the ROMP reaction of monomer I is carried out in solution, the resulting solution containing polymer III can be used directly to carry out the hydrogenation step. Thus, the step of separation of polymer III from the polymerization medium can be eliminated. Further, it is believed that any ROMP catalyst which may be present in the polymer III solution may aid in the hydrogenation reaction.
An alternate manner of forming the subject regio-regular polymer of the present invention is to subject a monoepoxy C7-C12 cycloalkene having at least one (and preferably both) ring carbon atoms adjacent to the ethylenic unsaturation as an unsubstituted carbon, to ROMP as described herein above for the vicinal difunctional monomer I. The intermediate polymer product is isolated by precipitation with a non-solvent followed by further conversion of the epoxy groups to the desired vicinal functional groups according to the synthetic routes described above. The resultant polymer III can be further hydrogenated to provide polymer IV in the manner described above.
Another alternate route to the present new and novel regio-regular polymer IV is to first epoxidize the ethylenic unsaturation units that are substantially uniformly distributed along a linear unsaturated hydrocarbon polymer chain. Conventional polymers which have unsaturation groups, such as conventional polybutadiene, isoprene and the like, are not linear polymers owing to the presence of pendent 1,2- or 3,4-double bonds. However, linear unsaturated hydrocarbon polymers having ethylenic units uniformly distributed within the polymer backbone chain can be formed by ROMP of a cycloalkene, such as a C7-C12 cycloalkene. The resultant polymer is linear and contains ethylenic unsaturation units uniformly distributed along the chain. These ethylenic units can then be epoxidized by standard techniques such as catalytic oxidation using a peroxide and a tungstate catalyst. The epoxy groups can then be converted to the desired vicinal functional groups, using the synthesis methods described above, to provide polymer product IV.
In addition to forming polymers III and IV from a single monomer I, as described above, one can form copolymers by ROMP of monomer I having X and Y functional groups and ROMP of a comonomer Ia. Comonomer I(a) can be selected from a cycloalkene represented by the formula: 
wherein X1 and Y1 have the same definition as X and Y described above for monomer I or may be selected (one or both) from hydrogen, provided X1 and Y1 together provide pairs which are distinct from the X and Y pairs of monomer I; R1 has the same definition as R of monomer I and a and b are each independently an integer of 0-6 provided the sum of a+b is 0 or 2-7. The copolymerization by ROMP of monomers I and Ia to provide a linear copolymer of the subject invention can be carried out with molar ratios of I to Ia of from about 50:50 to about 100:0 with from 60:40 to 100:0 being preferred. Because the ROMP of the present monomer is substantially a living polymerization, one can introduce monomer I and monomer Ia sequentially into the polymerization reaction media to provide block(s) of unit III first defined above and block(s) of units III wherein X and Y are as defined immediately above. Thus a regio-regular block polymer product is formed which is linear and has vicinal functional units uniformly spaced in a head-to-head configuration at least along a portion of the polymer chain (derived from monomer I) and a second segment of the polymer chain possibly having a second set of vicinal functional units uniformly configured along a portion of the same polymer chain (derived from monomer Ia). This copolymer may be hygogenated, as described above for the homopolymer.
The polymers produced by the present invention have been compared to their counterpart copolymer formed by conventional free-radical polymerization and have been observed to have superior elongation properties as well as enhanced toughness, lower melting temperature and lower density. The polymers are useful in forming films or coatings and the like, for packaging applications. For example, regio-regular vicinal hydroxy functional polymers formed according to the present invention have been found to have superior toughness and elongation properties, and lower gas permeability properties than analagous conventional free radical formed copolymers having comparable hydroxyl content. Similarly, copolymers of the subject invention can provide films or coatings having a high degree of puncture resistance, toughness, and print adhesion properties.
The following examples are given for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be a limitation on the claimed invention appended hereto. All parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise stated.